Posted on: 17 January 2012

Costume worn by Ram Gopal in Dance of the Setting Sun and Lord of Shiva dances, mid-20th century.

Kathak flat crowned headdress of magenta silk base mounted on stiffening, overlaid at the back with a lattice of gold sequins between which are sequin 'flowers' held by gold metal cord each with a coloured 'jewel' at the centre (some missing); the back rises to a peak and curved down at lower edge. The front band is decorated with a zig-zag of gold sequins, within each of which is a 'flower' or large gold sequins centred with a coloured 'jewel' and surrounded by 'foliage' in gold metal braids and cords; above this to either side is a similarly decorated band topped by a high fan-shape, each 'leaf' outlined in blue jewels and gold metal cord and filled in with gold metal braids and cords. Over the front band is a bold horned motif of 'jewels' in metal setting, linked by wire to a smaller motif at the head of the 'fan'; both motifs have hanging green ribbed beads and the 'fan' also has 'leaves' in red sequins and beads. To either side of the headdress are fixed bold motifs similarly constructed with hanging floral pendants. The headdress is lined with brown velvet.

Through the years, additional hanging pieces have fallen off the main headdress. The pearls and red, green and blue stones encrusted on the headress were made in India.

Source: V&A, London


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This is so intricate and beautiful to look at. It must have given the dancer such a regal look and truly brought the dance alive!

Bissano Ram Gopal OBE (20 November 1912[1] – October 12, 2003) was an Indian dancer who performed and toured extensively throughout his lengthy career. The Polish critic Tadeus Zelinski called him "the Nijinsky of India". Gopal was born in Bangalore, India. He had a Burmese mother and a Rajput father who was a barrister. They lived in a mansion called Torquay Castle. He was invited to the United States by La Meri, an American dancer who specialized in non-Western forms of dance to tour with her. He made his solo debut in New York City in 1938. He toured extensively and appeared at the New York Golden Anniversary International Dance Festival at NYC's City Center (1948), the Jacobs Pillow and Edinburgh Festivals in the 1950s. His creation, Radha Krishna, was based on Hindu mythology. The French filmmaker Claude Lamorisse made two films about him: “Aum Shiva” and “Ram” [2]. He received an OBE for services to dance in 1999. During the 1960s he was briefly married to Edith Alexander, who predeceased him. He died in a nursing home in Norbury, south London, UK. - Wiki

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JflWV0Ltf-M

Woooonderful. 100 like ^_*

beauty of the art world.